Hey guys I'm new here. I recently decided to take up the hobby of coin collecting, so I went to the bank and bought a box of Nickels and Penny's so that I can practice catching errors and varieties, but it has proven difficult for my eyes. Especially the double die's and such. Here I have attached some pictures and was hoping someone could guide me on what you're seeing here. I have 3 coins in the pictures, a nickel and 2 different 1992 Penny's. The Nickel has some kind of marking with what looks like a buildup of extra metal. The 2nd and 3rd Penny's look like a double die to me, but I know that's likely wrong because every time I think I see one it's something else, and every time I watch a video showcasing a double die, I can't see what they're trying to show me half the time. Some are obvious to me when looking online, but my eyes just have a really hard time differentiating them between something else. I hope to train them better. Finally, if this isn't double die on the Penny's, what is it? It's not normal right? Pictures 2 & 3 is a different penny to pictures 3, 4 & 5
Firstly the nickel, it is just normal. The moved metal you are seeing is just damage. The 2nd coin appears to have a minor DDR. The third cent if it's not just gunk would be a minor die chip on the "N" in Unum.
Welcome to CT! To learn about doubled dies, visit Wexler’s site at doubleddie.com. Read both sections on true doubling and worthless doubling. This will give you a great start. What I’ve found to be beneficial is by learning the various classes of doubling. This helps to train the eye and to help describe what you think you might be seeing with a given specimen. For example, the dots in EPU on an LWC or LMC (like you’ve pictured) would be oval instead of round. Oval in one direction versus in another might be the difference of class of doubling. The dots above are round. Of course the members here can help you through the curve. And we like to help. So, feel free to validate your suspicions as you progress through the curve.
There are hardly any real doubled dies in circulation in the entire US. You’ll find doubled cents but it’s a firm of worthless doubling caused by worn dies, mechanical doubling and many other forms. 1982 was a transition year from copper to copper plated zinc cents. Zinc is a terrible metal to use on coins as it causes many problems, like zinc rot. You can find errors but it’s difficult. This is a good site and you’ll find many members will be of help. I’m not trying to discourage you but I am being honest. A number of error coins are in circulation but not like you mention. Please research and familiarize yourself with them. I’m posting a few that you can look for but it’s still difficult to find them. Welcome to CT. A Lamination Error. A Strije Through error. A die crack error causing the horse to spit. An Incomplete Planchet error.
Incorrect. That's Die Deterioration doubling. Nothing to do with a tire Doubled Die Variety created by Hub Doubling.
Excuse my ignorance, wouldn't it still be considered DDR? All coins that were struck after this particular coin would have had the same reverse doubling, correct? Because of the deterioration on the actual die. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
I did forget that so thanks. I was concentrated on his being new and searching for errors. You know what that’s like.
Nope. Not at all. Mechanical doubling and Die deterioration doubling has absolutely nothing to do with true Doubled Die varieties. That's why they are considering worthless doubling. So you wouldn't use DDO nor DDR
Thanks for the explanation. At this point would you even consider this type of coin an error? Also if abbreviations DDO or DDR are not used what would you use to describe this coin? Thanks for taking the time to help me learn.
It's very simple my friend.. Mechanical doubling and die Deterioration doubling are NOT ever considered errors nor varieties. You will find those worthless doubling issues on many coins. They are of no interest to long time collectors nor should they have a premium/value.
Here is a great website to help you https://doubleddie.com/144801.html Don't go by what people are saying, teaching or showing on eBay or the many silly Facebook error pages that know nothing. They are very misleading. I know because I follow them. I try to teach them but they don't want to listen because they think they know better. It makes me sad seeing so much ignorance.
MD is for Mechanical Doubling DDD is for Die Detonation Doubling Both are only worth the face value of the coin and considered worthless doubling.
MD is caused by the movement of the die during a strike, so most (if not all) of the coins coming out would have some degree of this kind of "doubling", however each is probably unique, so it is a mechanical failure that caused it. The deterioration of the die causes the edges of the recesses to crumble or wear until it looks like doubling of the design.
To expand on Kentucky’s explanation, MD happens during the strike due to some sloppiness in the tooling/equipment. Deterioration happens as the die ages creating a bunch of surface phenomena during the strike. True doubling is created during the creation of a die. As that die is used, aside from the doubled image/devices you can also have MD and eventually, die deterioration. Note that the date shows true doubling and MD. One from the hubbing process and the other from a sloppy setup.